The PBS NewsHour has been undergoing a lot of changes in recent times. Longtime anchor Jim Lehrer has gone into semi-retirement; indeed, Lehrer was part of a long-standing team, along with Robert MacNeil, when it was called the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour. The anchor duties have been passed around, but only recently Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff, two other seasoned veterans of public television, have been named the permanent co-anchors of the NewsHour, which is broadcast Monday through Friday from 6 to 7 p.m. on PanhandlePBS.

“I am currently considering a wide range of very attractive options in broadcasting, print, and academia. Confident that something wonderful will shake out, I was ready to leave the NewsHour,” Suarez wrote in an email.

I have no doubt that something “wonderful” will happen for Suarez, who has won acclaim as one of the nation’s top Hispanic journalists.

I also have no doubt the NewsHour will continue its tradition of serious journalism, examining key issues without the hysteria and hyperbole we hear quite often — perhaps a bit too often — on cable news shows.

Public television will be a bit poorer without Ray Suarez’s contributions to the PBS NewsHour. But as Suarez said on Twitter the other day: “The question: Is there life after NewsHour? The answer: Just watch! Thanks for your good wishes.”